Book Description

At the end of the 21st century, a catastrophic accident
in the asteroid belt has left two surveyors dead.
There is no trace of their young son,
Alex Manez, or of the asteroid itself.

On the outer edge of the solar system,
the first manned mission to Pluto,
led by the youngest female astronaut in
NASA history, has led to an historic discovery:
there is a marker left there by an alien race
for humankind to find. We are not alone!

While studying the alien marker, it begins to react.
Four hours later, the missing asteroid appears
in a Plutonian orbit, along with young Alex Manez,
who has developed some alarming side-effects from his
exposure to the kinetic element they call Kinemet.

From the depths of a criminal empire based on Luna,
an expatriate seizes the opportunity to wrest control
of outer space, and takes swift action.

The secret to faster-than-light speed is up for grabs,
and the race for interstellar space begins!

- The Interstellar Age -Book 1 - Forbidden The Stars
Book 2 - Music of the Spheres
Book 3 - Worlds Away

At the end of the 21st century, a catastrophic accident
in the asteroid belt has left two surveyors dead.
There is no trace of their young son,
Alex Manez, or of the asteroid itself.

On the outer edge of the solar system,
the first manned mission to Pluto,
led by the youngest female astronaut in
NASA history, has led to an historic discovery:
there is a marker left there by an alien race
for humankind to find. We are not alone!

While studying the alien marker, it begins to react.
Four hours later, the missing asteroid appears
in a Plutonian orbit, along with young Alex Manez,
who has developed some alarming side-effects from his
exposure to the kinetic element they call Kinemet.

From the depths of a criminal empire based on Luna,
an expatriate seizes the opportunity to wrest control
of outer space, and takes swift action.

The secret to faster-than-light speed is up for grabs,
and the race for interstellar space begins!

- The Interstellar Age -Book 1 - Forbidden The Stars
Book 2 - Music of the Spheres
Book 3 - Worlds Away

It's easy for a writer to get bogged down when writing science fiction. Some writers focus too much on the science and not enough the story. Others do the reverse. Valmore Daniels manages to maintain a balance between the two. It's one of the things that made Forbidden the Stars a good read for me.

I enjoyed the author's writing style. There are places where Valmore Daniels uses excerpts from ship logs, personal journals and files to help further the story. For the most part, this worked to great effect.

The characters were interesting and believable. Each one had a fully developed personality and clear motivations. That said, some characters were stronger than others. There were also a few minor characters that I wanted to know more about.

The setting, especially how things are run on Earth, is unique. It's a different take on how things could be that I liked. It would have been nice to learn more about the events that led up to this but the story isn't hurt by the lack of details.

Finally, the plot and pacing of the story made the book an easy read. There was always something happening and events kept moving at an even pace. Towards the end of the book, things felt a little rushed as the author tied up the plot.

If you want to get a science fiction fix, you should give this book a try.

I received a review copy from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is an ambitious story weaving multiple storylines at once. There is Michael Sanderson, President of Canada Corp's Space Mining Division; Justine Turner, the first female astronaut who pilots Orcus 1 to Pluto; 10 year-old Alex Manez; the criminal base of operations on Luna and the legend of Kulkulkan, the Mayan god of the sun, the oceans, the earth and the sky. Maybe, a little too ambitious.

Alex Manez travels with his parents on a survey mission to the asteroid Macklin's Rock in the Sol System. This should have been a routine mission, but tragedy strikes and his parents are killed in an explosion. This is no ordinary explosion, but one that will change space exploration for mankind. The asteroid disappears only to reappear four hours later in a Plutonian orbit; the first instance of FTL aided by a mysterious element named Kinemet. Young Alex survives the FTL travel, but his exposure to kinetic element fundamentally changes him. Justine and her crew who were currently serving on a mission to Pluto rescue him. She must abandon her mission on Pluto to bring Alex back to Earth.

I wanted to bond with Alex and everything that he must be feeling, but the author keeps Alex at bay keeping him distant and aloof from every overture that Justine makes to befriend him. We do get to know Justine better, a woman who lost everything in her personal life, because of her unfailing dedication to her career. From the moment Justine rescues Alex, however, she develops an over protectiveness toward the young boy. This is where Mr. Daniels gets it right. I felt that I knew Justine and could understand the reasons why she made the decisions she did in her life.

Not being a scientist, I found myself skipping over many of scientific descriptions and explanations. These don't interest me, but this is in no way a reflection on Mr. Daniels who obviously did an enormous amount of research for this book. I prefer to know more about people in the story - their motivations, desires, and dreams.

Without giving away any spoilers, there are many events in this book that keep the action moving. All of the storylines came together and I finished the book within a week. It was an enjoyable read and I have no problem recommending this book to fans of science fiction.Read more ›

Good SciFi has well developed characters. There is no depth to the characters. I never cared about any of them.

Good SciFi either lets technology exist without attempting to explain it (Steven L.Kent's "Clone" series), or actually uses good, established science as a basis for its extensions of out current knowledge (Larry Niven, John Ringo). The central concept in the book, 'element X', fits more in the fantasy genre than SciFi, and the treatment of nuclear physics and electron orbits are too bizarre to be amusing.

I managed to get 3/4 of the way through it and realized I wasn't even paying attention any more, and I did not care whether or not the little twit ever got rescued, and I don't want to find out anything more about 'Dis Pater'.

The concept of the story may have been entertaining, even interesting, had it not been so difficult to read. The best terms I can use to describe it are "clunky" and "awkward" and "flat". The science was questionable and clunky, the writing was awkward and the characters were flat.

By far, the greatest problem I had with the book was the language. I might have been able to enjoy the book and overlook the science problems but I kept being pulled out of the story by it's many problems. I recognize that this is the author's first published work and it may have been self-published but I think his attempt would have been greatly improved by a competent editor. Even asking a high-school language arts teacher look it over would have helped tremendously. Here are a few examples of the types of things I mean (there may be spoilers):

-there are simple typos:"The artifact yew called Dis Pater..."

-poor grammar/missing words:"Obviously, the deposit reacted with the something in the drill...""They spread was enough misinformation to keep the masses on the edge of doubt.""The sight before him was so grand that it was a good minute before Alex the absence of artificial gravity in the room""Once it was brought into public knowledge of his near-screw-up...""I will treat him like my one of my own"

-and then there are times when a dictionary would have been helpful:"He had hoped for the young boy's *forbearance*, but did not really believe anyone could have survived that kind of trip.""This is Klaus Voglesburg, my young *ingénue*.""When the needle was *injected* in his arm and blood taken..." (sorry you don't inject the needle, only the contents of the syringe)

And lastly, just a pet peeve, it seems that 80 years or so into the future no one "checks their watch" or "looks at a clock" but they always "glance at their chronometer". Never in this story is there a term used for a time-keeping device other than "chronometer". Is 80 years really enough time for "watch", "clock", etc. to so completely fall out of disuse? Why is it that authors sometimes think it necessary to "dazzle" us with a "fancy" word for an everyday object. We still call the device strapped to our hip a "phone" even though it bears no resemblance to the original telephone. Am I to believe that 80 years from now we may refer to it as a "personal telecommunications device".

What really bothers me most is that this book was recommended to me by Amazon with multiple stars and glowing recommendations. I wonder, as did other reviewers, if the 5 stars were granted by friends and family of the author.Read more ›

More About the Author

Valmore Daniels has lived on the coasts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, and dozens of points in between.

An insatiable thirst for new experiences has led him to work in several fields, including legal research, elderly care, oil & gas administration, web design, government service, human resources, and retail business management.

His enthusiasm for travel is only surpassed by his passion for telling tall tales.

Forums

After just finishing the book - I would say that seeking the answers to most of your questions is probably one of the best reasons to catch the next book in the series. Obviously, to me, Alex found interaction with the "lost" mayan people who were taken from earth - and that... Read More